PETITION TO REPORT A MOB ASSAULT AGAINST A MEMBER OF PSYCHLENS (NAPS PRESS ORGANIZATION)

On Wednesday 6th of December, a member of the press was verbally assaulted by some members of the executive and legislative. This petition was brought forward to the NPHR, to make sure that this incident is looked into and that it doesn't repeat itself The petition goes thus;

"I am writing this letter of complaint and petition in the hope that it would be read and discussed at the next sitting of the NAPS House of Representatives. This petition and the arguments contained therein, as well as its urgent requests, were carved in the hope that the universal principles of democracy, freedom, and equity are still the cornerstone standards by which our great association conducts her activities, interprets itself within and present herself to the rest of the world.

It was brought to my notice yesterday that a member of PsychLens (whose name I deliberately withhold) was surrounded and verbally harassed, publicly sometime in the afternoon of Wednesday, December 7, 2022. According to the victim, this resulted from articles published on the Organization’s webpage and board.

While it's pretty sad that some opinion articles could result in an attempted mass gang-up on a pressman, it's much more depressing to know that this very inappropriate action was instigated by some serving Administrators of our association and that of the faculty as well. This verbal harassment resulted in putting this Pressman in a very uncomfortable position. According to the Pressman and an eyewitness, unpleasant words were discharged, and the opportunity for a reciprocated response was shunned. Serving student politicians, publicly raising a mob-led inquest on the press, and attacking the freedom of the Press’s opinion are not new to our association. This honorable House will recall that the association survived many counts of the same last session, on account of some student politicians and their fans’ belief that there should be no rules set by the Press in a Press Night debate.

While the previous NAPS administration allowed a lot of understanding of the universal canons of democracy to guide their final behavior on this, it is unfortunate to realize that the old ugly snake is yet to die among us. It is to the end of educating ourselves on the proper channel of communication with an Independent Press organization that this whole petition is being done.

While the Press has the power to publish contents of their choice to the public view, it is acceptable that objections are raised concerning these contents. However, what is unacceptable is a Pressman being ganged against, put in the middle, harassed, or aggressively challenged for any content that grasps the disapproval of a politically colored review. Any complaints about any writing of the Press, or any other form of communication with the Press in whatever form ought to be directed to the Office of the Editor-In-Chief of the Press. The E-In-C takes the overall presidency of the contents of the board. Inquiries or complaints about its contents should be directed to his or her office in written form. The medium of communication in civilization is through formal writing and exchange of correspondences among one another, not through instigated mob action. Mob action is informal, petty, ill-conceived, irresponsible, and uninterested in justice but aimed at the forceful silencing of truth. All democracies must ensure that this does not become the culture of our interaction. It is ignoble and must not be sustained, to say the least.

This complaint can also be delivered physically to any of the Editor-In-Chief of the Press Organizations in the Faculty if the response of the Department E-In-C is unsatisfactory or the E-In-C of the department seems to likely become a judge in his or her own case.

It will be appreciated if NPHR looks into this and ensure that such an indecent mob mode of expressing dissent does not repeat itself.

It was also communicated to me, that the serving politicians who instigated this mob act also threatened the very existence of the Press organization, opening angered mouths in the public to say they want the House of Representatives to help them proscribe the Press. Because the Press wrote against them. I do not think any responsible public officer will come face to face with the public they serve to call for the abolition of an institution formally created to demand accountability at all times.

For history’s sake, the following lines will be important for the understanding of the NAPS public, and as a matter of fact, it is part of why NAPS exists and what we have come to school to learn."

WHAT IS PRESS WORK ALL ABOUT?

The Ethics of Journalism was not created to protect the ego of the public official, nor an evangelical outreach of their great works. The Press in the words of John F Kennedy is in a democratic republic meant to inform, arouse, instruct, and warn on public conduct. To state the commonwealth’s dangers and opportunities, to evaluate the implications of public conduct, and to teach and invoke an informed, educated followership (Kennedy, 1961 p.12). Every executive may have a secretary and NAPS Executives as a whole has a PRO. These officers must dwell on the positives of the works of their principals alone, while the Press evaluates all sides.

WHAT IS AN INSULT?

Most of the Publications of the Press may be divided into three distinct forms. The first and the most popular is News Reporting. The Second is Features and the Third is Opinion.

News Reporting involves stating the facts alone, without any form of interpretations or evaluations. It answers the five w and one h questions; why where and what took place, as well as who and to whom they were done, then explains how it was done.

Features Reporting involves dwelling on one already published News item, fleshing it up in a story form, and adding enriched details with according adjectives.

The Opinion section is either the ideas and understanding of the writer on a subject at issue. It may be my opinion that the Editor-In-Chief of The NAPS Press is comparable to the bush babies since she does not demonstrate the standard average height of a human being. From here we can see that opinions are interpretations of existing, underlying facts. Too many Nigerian journalists have written and continue to write that President Buhari (from the facts available to them) gives soft handling hence support to terrorism and that the Nigerian State as a whole endorses religious extremism.

This is a mere interpretation of the existing facts by the writer, and despite how backward the Nigerian democracy is (in my opinion), I have not heard of any journalist being sent to jail on account of such arguments about President Buhari. Because the world out there understands what an opinion is. That a Pressman interpreted the manifesto presented by the Sports Secretary as suspected to have been written by a five-year-old is an interpretation of the inappropriately written manifesto by the Pressman. It is his opinion. The whole idea of preserving the freedom of the Press is invoked in the preservation and protection of opinion articles from state censorship. It is simply an unnecessary dress of futile ego, and a dislike of being held accountable to start to fight the writer for his opinion instead of working to make a better budget available to the House. Our choices reveal who we are.

COMPARISON WITH NEIGHBOURING ASSOCIATIONS

A few days ago, the Editor-In-Chief of the Geography Students Association addressed the issue of the President of the association’s absence from sitting when he was to present a budget without giving any prior reasons. In the article she published, she interpreted such an act as irresponsible and dangerous (her opinion) which goes below every virtuous conduct. The President later showed that he had presentable reasons for the absence, but instantly chose to publish an apology letter without any reservations, instead of leading a mob to the VOG board.

Last week the President of FATSSSA told the Deputy E-In-C of the same organization to register Pressmen in a particular group without further details (according to the Deputy E-in-C) bypassing the faculty E-In-C. This the E-In-C addressed as inappropriate communication, and (in his opinion) a tactic by the President to divide and rule the Press, and undue interference in Press duty. The President immediately apologized, without dwelling on the right of whether or not the faculty E-In-C has the right to make such interpretations.

NAPS Executives have these living samples to learn from.

In Conclusion, the Press remains the voice of the Congress of NAPS, the voice for due accountability, for reporting and evaluating all public conducts of public officers elected under oath. It will not do its duties under any fear or pressure to favor and it will continue as it does to defend the freedom and Independence of the Press from Executives' attempted oversight.

Let all complaints about the Press pass through the formal channels of the department E-in-C, the faculty E-in-C, and in the last resort, the Union of Campus Journalists, which is the sole commission approved by the University Authorities to start or end presswork in any jurisdiction on this campus.

SIGNED

ENIOLA FASE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PSYCHLENS